United Bank of Africa (UBA) Ghana has introduced yet another innovative product, UBA Africard, which is aimed at promoting branchless banking in the country.
“Branchless
banking is the future of banking in this country and our introduction of the
Africard is our way of promoting branchless banking. We feel compelled to
continue to empower our customers by providing them with several options to
conveniently access financial services,” Oliver Alawuba, Managing Director,
said at Africard's launch.
Unlike most
debit cards, the UBA Africard is a visa-enabled reloadable cedi-denominated
card which is not tied to any bank account and can be used on visa platforms
and point of sale terminals around the world. Funds on the card can be accessed
in local currencies in different countries.
According
to Mr. Alawuba, the UBA Africard also provides the bank an opportunity to
“bridge the gap between the banked and the unbanked with the right channel
strategy that gives the customer greater flexibility in accessing basic banking
services.”
The UBA
Africard, which can be obtained instantly, can be used in the over 1.9 million
ATMs and 30 million point of sale terminals across the world. It is Verified by
Visa, which secures payments made via the internet.
“The
card offers the opportunity to seamlessly transfer funds hassle-free. Per Bank
of Ghana regulations, individuals cannot transfer more than US$10,000 dollars
per annum on the Africard platform,” Mr. Alawuba added.
He said UBA
intends to enter into arrangements with other financial institutions to make
the product widely accessible. Presently, the product can be accessed from the
bank's 25 branches nationwide.
The bank,
which was named 1st Runner-up in IT/Electronic Banking at the 2011 Ghana
Banking Awards, last year introduced a first-of-a kind cardless ATM withdrawal
service that allows a third party to withdraw cash on its ATM without a card.
UBA
Ghana, which commenced operation in 2004, is a subsidiary of United Bank for
Africa (UBA) Plc, West Africa's largest financial services group with assets in
excess of US$14 billion.
Source:
Modern Ghana